Home Again
by sparklespaz716
Summary: A GH ensemble epic, starting around a month after the hostage crisis. Focuses mainly on couplescharacters I think are underused, and brings back some vets...
1. Chapter 1

The story starts about a month after the situation at the Metro Court, except that everyone made it out alive (except Sam, but she's not dead. We'll get to that later.) Also, Luke has divorced Tracy Quartermaine. I think everything else is explained in the story- if not, I'll let you know when it becomes important. Enjoy!**  
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**Chapter One**

_Sometimes I wonder if I'm ever gonna make it home again…_

Elizabeth Spencer sighed, looking down at the piece of paper in her hand for what seemed like the millionth time since she had first laid eyes on it. Scrubbing her hand across her face, she leaned back in the driver's seat of her car and stared out the windshield at the front door of the PCPD, just like she had been doing for the past half hour, trying to decide if she wanted to go inside or not. Closing her eyes, her mind drifted back to earlier that morning.

_Elizabeth paced back and forth in front of the door to Penthouse Two, smiling at a slightly concerned looking Johnny reassuringly. A minute later, Jason opened the door, dressed in one of his customary grey tees and wearing the facial expression that had graced his face ever since Sam had been kidnapped during the hostage crisis at the Metro Court Hotel. He gestured her inside the apartment wordlessly._

_Once inside, Jason moved to take her coat, but Elizabeth shook her head. "I can't stay long, I'm supposed to be meeting Emily and Nikolas for lunch, but I still need to go see Lucky first."_

"_What's up?" Jason asked, clearing some files and papers off of the couch and gesturing for her to sit down. She sank into the couch gratefully, brushing a strand of hair out of her eyes and looking up at him. She sighed._

"_Jason, I was just at my doctor's appointment, and I asked her if I could see my file- you know, look over my test results and stuff, see for myself that everything was okay with the baby," she said, as he sat beside her. Jason nodded. Elizabeth took a deep breath and continued. "There was a copy of the paternity test results in there- the original copy, and it said that Lucky was the father."_

Elizabeth wiped her eyes, looking back up at the door of the police station. She was still trying to get up the courage to go inside and tell Lucky the news; she could still see his face when he had overheard her telling Jason that he was the father after the hostage crisis at the Metro Court hotel. Shaking her head, she opened her car door and got out. She was going to have to do this sooner or later. She didn't even know why she was so nervous- she hadn't been nervous at all when she had gone to talk to Jason, and that was to tell him that he_wasn't_ the baby's father. He had taken it surprisingly well, actually. Elizabeth suspected that it had something to do with the fact that he could now focus his entire attention on finding Sam, and she didn't blame him at all.

She stopped in front of the door to the station and moved to stand against the outside wall, rubbing her forehead. Maybe she would just stand out here for a few minutes.

Lucky looked up from his paperwork just in time to see his partner repeatedly banging his head against his desk. Laughing, he reached across and tapped Cruz on the head with his pen.

Cruz lifted his head from the desk. "What?"

"What's your deal?" Lucky asked, setting his paperwork down and leaning back in his chair, folding his hands and resting them on his chest. Cruz, too, sat back, pinching the bridge of his nose- something that he did when he was irritated, Lucky had noticed.

"First we get stuck with all of this paperwork for a case that will, with the District Attorney's track record lately, get dropped as soon as we're finished," Cruz said, gesturing to the mounds of paperwork he and Lucky had been given earlier in the day, "then the Commish's daughter decides that she wants to flirt with _me_ in order to make _you_ jealous- yeah, that was fun, let me tell you- and now we're no closer to being done here and my lunch date's going to kill me because I'm going to be late, _if_ I even get to show up at all."

Lucky raised his eyebrows. "Wow. I thought you didn't date."

Cruz gave him an incredulous look. "That's all you can say?" Lucky laughed loudly.

"Look, why don't you go ahead and go?" he suggested. "I can wrap up this part in the next few minutes before I have to leave to meet Nikolas, Emily and Elizabeth for lunch."

"Are you sure, man? That would be great- if I'm late again, my date's going to kill me," Cruz said, standing and slipping his sport coat back on. "I've already had to cancel on her twice this week because of work."

"Yeah, no problem," Lucky said, waving at him. "You can make it up to me by letting me leave early this afternoon so that I can pick Cam up from daycare. We're going out, just the two of us. There's this new movie playing that he wants to see."

"Okay. Sounds great," Cruz said. "Thanks again, Lucky. See ya later." And with that, he was out of the station before Lucky could even say good-bye. Laughing, he looked back down at the paperwork on his desk and felt his grin slip off his face quickly. He dove back in, hoping that he could get at least some of it finished before he had to leave.

"Lucky."

Lucky jerked his head up at the sound of Elizabeth's voice. She was standing in front of him, arms crossed over her swollen stomach and looking rather nervous. He stood, grasping her elbows gently. "What's wrong, Lizzie?"

At the sound of him calling her by her nickname, something that no one except Nikolas had called her in years, she couldn't help but smile. "Nothing's wrong," she said reassuringly. "Actually, something's finally right for once."

"Liz, what are you talking about?" he asked, looking at her curiously. The two of them had been on shaky ground ever since he had found out that her baby was Jason's and not his, and she hadn't made it a point to seek him out recently.

"Lucky, maybe you should sit back down." Elizabeth bit her lip, looking wary.

"Is something wrong with the baby? What's the matter, Elizabeth?"

"No, no, Lucky, the baby's fine." Elizabeth smiled, a real smile, for the first time since she had entered the station. "Actually, that's what I wanted to talk to you about. I was at the doctor this morning and I asked to see my file, so that I could look over all of the test results and reassure myself that the baby was okay. You know me; I need to see it for myself."

Lucky nodded, watching her carefully.

"Anyway, I was looking through the papers and I found this." Elizabeth held out a slip of paper, and Lucky took it. Looking at it, he saw the words_paternity test_ emblazoned across the top. He looked back up at her, and, at the expression on her face, looked back down at the paper.

"Father: Lucas Lorenzo Spencer, Jr." He looked back up at Elizabeth, whose eyes were shining. "Elizabeth, what-?"

"The results must have gotten switched. That was the original, the one that you're holding. Kelly confirmed it." Elizabeth grinned. "Lucky, you have no idea how happy I was when I saw that paper."

"I think I do," he said, his voice shaking slightly in disbelief. Without warning, he grabbed her in a tight hug, lifting her off the floor and spinning her around. He heard her laugh happily and felt tears streaming down her face- or were those his? It didn't matter, he decided. It was worth it to have his coworkers see him cry. He was going to be a father!

Setting her back on her feet, he looked down, his arms still around her waist. Elizabeth tightened her hold on his neck with one hand while wiping her eyes with the other. They stood there, just like that, for a moment before Lucky spoke.

"Let's go tell Nikolas and Emily," he said, grinning down at her, the lopsided grin that he and Lulu had both inherited from their father. Looping her arm around his waist, she smiled back as they headed from the building.

Nothing had been resolved, Elizabeth knew, but it was certainly a step in the right direction.

Lulu Spencer sighed, drumming her fingers on the bar in the Cellar. The bartender set another club soda in front of her and she smiled at him gratefully, snickering inside when he blushed a vivid red and turned to serve another customer. She didn't think she looked _that_ good, though she had dressed up a little, donning a slate blue sweater with a black leather miniskirt and black knee-high, spike heeled boots that she had very nearly killed herself with on the wet pavement outside. She was wearing her hair its natural way, curly, because she hadn't felt like doing much else besides scrunching some gel into it that morning.

She heard a wolf whistle from behind her and turned around to see her lunch date standing there smiling at her. "Well, look at that," she said, standing from the barstool. "He shows up, and on time, too!"

Her date's response was to simply smirk at her, before wrapping his arms around her and kissing her. A moment later, she pulled back, giving him a Look.

"Are you insane? Anyone could see us here, and it could get back to Lucky!" she said, not bothering to remove her hands from where they were gripping his shoulders.

Cruz Rodriguez just shook his head. "Right now, I don't really care." Lulu looked at him incredulously.

"Who are you and what have you done with Cruz?" she asked, arching her right eyebrow. They made their way to a small table in the back corner and sat down. "I'm waiting," she prodded, letting him know that she was not going to let this go. He sighed, leaning back in his chair.

"Just really needed to see you, that's all," was the only explanation that she got. Lulu rolled her eyes, secretly pleased at his words.

"Care to explain why? I mean, you haven't been too keen on seeing me at all lately, and then I get a call asking me if I want to go to lunch. And at the Cellar, my cousin's restaurant, of all places." Lulu surveyed the man in front of her, thinking about just how much things had changed since they had started working together.

Cruz was helping Lulu with her project of trying to prove Laura innocent and had been for about a month, since not long after the whole hostage crisis thing had ended. He had caught her snooping around the file room at the PCPD, looking for anything she could find about the case against her mother, and had informed her that he wouldn't say anything to Lucky about what she was doing as long as she swore not to break into the file room again. She had countered that if he would help her, she wouldn't _have_ to break into said file room again. It had been the beginning of a wonderful partnership- that hadn't taken too long to evolve into something more, Lulu mused, though they were both still a little squeamish about actually calling it a relationship, since Cruz was still on the "he was too old for her" kick and Lulu was afraid that if she pushed it, he might bolt.

Plus, there was the fact that he was afraid Lucky would kill him if he found out.

So then why was he being so obvious today, and why didn't he seem to care who saw? That was the sixty-four thousand dollar question, Lulu decided, and sipped her club soda, waiting patiently for his answer.

"I found something that might help with the case," Cruz told her, leaning forward over the table. Lulu frowned.

"So that's all this is about?" she asked, trying not to let the hurt show in her voice. He reached out and lay his hand on top of hers, squeezing gently.

"No, that was just an excuse," he admitted. "I've missed having you around." Lulu smiled despite herself.

"You mean you've missed me showing up at your place at the crack of dawn, or not leaving until midnight? And you can't tell me you've missed the chick flicks," she said, grinning. They gave their orders to the waiter, handing him their menus and waiting to talk again until he walked away.

"No, I certainly haven't missed those awful movies, and I have enjoyed getting to sleep in. Did you know I actually got to sleep until ten on Sunday?" he told her. "It was a freaking miracle, let me tell you." He squeezed her hand again. "But I have missed you."

"I've missed you, too," Lulu admitted. "So we know the solution to this, right? Next time you freak out and decide you're too old for me, and are therefore not going to call me for the next week, just let me know first, kay?" She smirked at him as he rolled his eyes.

"Do you want to know what I found out or not, _Camorrista_?"

Lulu grinned and leaned forward conspiratorially. She was all ears.

"Hey, sorry I'm late." Emily looked up as Nikolas came striding through the gate by Kelly's. "Spencer was a little fussy when I tried to put him down for his nap."

"That's okay, I was the only one here," Emily told him, gesturing around. He took the gesturing hand and pulled her up from her seat towards him, kissing her hello.

"So where's Liz and Lucky?" Nikolas asked, moving to sit down at the table Emily had been sitting at. Emily sank back into her chair, shrugging.

"I have no idea," she admitted. "Liz said that she was going to be here around one, but it's about one-thirty now and I haven't seen her. Lucky being late I can understand, with all of the work that he's been doing at the station lately, but Liz is usually on time."

"Hey, sorry we're late!" Elizabeth's voice called from somewhere out of sight, probably around the other side of the building.

Emily and Nikolas looked at each other, Emily mouthing "we?" They looked up just in time to see Elizabeth and Lucky rounding the corner of the building, Lucky's arm looped around Liz's waist and both of them looking happier than Emily had seen them look in quite a while. She stood, folding her arms and raising her eyebrows.

"What?" Elizabeth asked, trying to look innocent but failing miserably, her whole face lit up with a huge smile, her eyes sparkling. And Lucky wasn't faring much better- he didn't seem to be able to take his eyes off of Elizabeth.

"What's going on?" Nikolas asked, leaning back in his chair and propping his feet on the table. Emily smacked his feet, gesturing for him to move them but he ignored her, watching his brother and former sister-in-law. Lucky and Elizabeth looked at each other, then back at Emily and Nikolas.

Taking a deep breath, Elizabeth spoke. "Well, I found something out this morning," she said. At Emily's prodding look, she continued. "I was at my appointment and I asked if I could see my file."

"Yeah, you always do that," Emily reminded her. "So?"

"The baby's Lucky's," Elizabeth said in a rush. All Emily could do was stare at her. She heard a _thud_ as Nikolas's feet hit the ground and he stood.

"What- how?" Nikolas asked, looking confused. "I thought that the paternity test said-" Elizabeth cut him off.

"I know, but the original was in my file and it said that Lucky was the father," she explained. "All I can think of is that the results must have gotten switched around somehow when they gave me the copy."

"Or someone switched them," Emily said ominously, a thought coming into her mind. The others all looked at her questioningly. Emily sighed. "All I'm saying is that someone with access to things around the hospital could have switched the test results on purpose."

It dawned on Elizabeth what Emily was saying. "Em, if you're saying what I think you are…." She let her sentence trail. It made sense- if Maxie had the ability to fake not only a pregnancy and doctor's appointments, but also a miscarriage, then it wasn't much of a stretch to think that she could have switched the results of Elizabeth's paternity tests, especially considering how much she wanted Lucky for herself.

"That's a serious accusation," Nikolas said, catching on.

"But not an impossible one," Elizabeth said. Then she shook her head. "We'll talk about that later. Right now, we're supposed to be focusing on spending time with each other and celebrating this baby! Besides, I'm starving. And I have to pee," she announced unceremoniously. Lucky rolled his eyes.

"Every ten minutes," Nikolas muttered, grinning when Liz scowled at him. Emily shook her head as the foursome set off for the Cellar.


	2. Chapter 2

Oh, and in this universe, Lucas was never gay. And it's Ryan Carnes's Lucas. 

**Chapter Two:**

"It's really not funny," Elizabeth complained as she came out of the restroom located before the stairs leading down to the Cellar. She scowled at Lucky and Nikolas and moved to stand beside Emily, who was smiling at her sympathetically. "You try being six months pregnant," she continued, folding her arms across her stomach. "I have three months left and I'm already as big as a house!"

"No, you're not," Emily said, rubbing her shoulder soothingly. "And Nikolas and Lucky didn't mean it, right boys?"

Nikolas and Lucky both hurriedly shook their heads. "Not at all," Lucky said, slipping an arm around her waist. "Now why don't we head downstairs and get something to eat? You mentioned that you were starving, right?" Elizabeth nodded and the foursome made their way to the stairs, Nikolas walking slightly behind and chuckling a little at Elizabeth's mood swings, which they all remembered well from when she was pregnant with Cam. Emily gave him a Look, and he stopped.

"Hey, where are you going, man?" Lucky asked Cruz Rodriguez. Cruz was heading up the stairs in their direction, and rolled his eyes at Lucky's question.

"Just got a call from Lansing," Cruz explained. "Some crisis at the station that he needs me to deal with immediately. He interrupted my lunch date- I swear the man lives to ruin my life."

"Yours and everyone else's," Lucky remarked, shaking his head. "You need me to come?" he offered. Cruz shook his head.

"Nah. Stay here, have your lunch," he told him. "If Lansing asks where you are, I'll cover for you."

"Thanks, man," Lucky said, waving as Cruz headed up the rest of the stairs and out the door. Emily looked at Lucky.

"Rodriguez dates?" she asked, looking a little shocked. Lucky shrugged.

"That's what I said, but he almost bit my head off when I asked," Lucky commented, grinning. "Come on, let's go get a table." They headed into the main dining room of the restaurant and Nikolas almost immediately spotted Lulu sitting at a small table in the back. He headed in her direction, the others following.

"Hey, guys," she said when she spotted them. She stood from her table, which had two place settings and appeared as though she and someone else had just finished eating. "What are you four doing here?"

"We are celebrating," Nikolas informed his sister, picking up her glass of club soda and sniffing it. Lulu frowned at him, taking it back and standing.

"Its club soda," she informed him, giving him the evil eye. "So what, exactly, are we celebrating?" she asked, following the four over to a table nearby and sitting down. She gave both of her brothers a searching look, but it was Elizabeth who looked suspicious. Lulu furrowed her brow; things had been strained at best between her and Liz since the hostage crisis when Liz had revealed that her baby was Jason's, but Lulu had been able to read the other woman like a book for many years. "What's going on?" She sipped her club soda slowly as she watched Liz and Lucky exchange smiles, and cocked her head to the side. "Anyone wanna fill me in here? 'Cause if not, I have an absent boyfriend I can go find."

Ignoring her last remark, Lucky cleared his throat and straightened in his chair. "How would you feel about being an aunt again, Lu?"

"What do you mean?"

"The baby's Lucky's, Lulu," Elizabeth said, unable to keep the smile from her face. "I found out at my appointment this morning."

Lulu swore she felt her jaw hit the floor, and she sat her glass on the table to keep from dropping it. "Pardon? I thought that-"

"So did I, Lulu, but apparently the results got switched before I saw them last time. The original was in my file when I was looking over my stuff this morning." Liz reached over and placed her hand on top of Lulu's. Lulu responded by turning her hand over and lacing her fingers through Liz's.

"I'm glad," Lulu said honestly. She smiled at the woman that she had always considered an older sister and who had always been there for her, no matter what. "And I'm very happy for you guys." Squeezing Liz's hand, she let go and sat back up straight. "So what does Cam think of all this?"

Elizabeth launched into some story about Cameron wanting a puppy instead of a little brother or sister, and Lulu sipped her soda again, a warm feeling settling over her as she looked around the table at her brothers and their women. Everything finally felt like it was back to the way that it should be.

Well, not _everything_, Lulu thought to herself, but the rest would come, in time. All she had to do was be patient.

Too bad that wasn't a Spencer family trait.

"So, are the two of you ready to order?" Georgie asked Robin as she reached the table that her cousin and Patrick Drake were currently occupying in Kelly's. Robin looked across the table at Patrick, who nodded.

"I want the grilled chicken caesar salad and iced tea," Robin told Georgie, folding her arms across her chest and leaning back in her chair, exhausted.

"The double bacon cheeseburger with a side of that _awesome_ chili, please," Patrick ordered, grinning at Georgie. "Oh, and a chocolate milkshake." Robin rolled her eyes. The man could easily pass for a garbage disposal.

"Coming right up," Georgie said, heading back to the counter. Robin shook her head at Patrick.

"You call yourself a doctor," she scoffed. "You're going to go into cardiac arrest at age thirty-five if you keep eating like that." He just grinned at her and took her hands in his.

"What would I do without you to look out for me?" he asked, kissing the back of one of her hands. She shook her head at him again, but couldn't help the smile that snuck onto her face.

The two of them were on a brief lunch break from their long, uninterrupted shifts at the hospital that day. They were still in their scrubs, not having had the time to change if they actually wanted to have time to eat their lunch, as they were due back for a consult in less than an hour. Robin opened her mouth to respond to Patrick's question with some witty remark, but before she could speak she heard the last voice that she wanted to be hearing at that moment.

"Well, if it isn't my favorite daughter and her neurosurgeon boyfriend," Robert Scorpio drawled in his unmistakable Australian accent, pulling a chair up to their table and sitting in it backwards. "What's happening, kids?"

Robin groaned, leaning back in her chair and hiding her face in her hands. "Why must you be here?" she whined in the voice that she saved only for her father. Robert grinned.

"Well, now, I was just coming in for lunch and I saw the two of you, and since you're always complaining that we don't spend enough time together, I thought that I would join you," he explained, folding his arms on the table and leaning forward. Robin groaned again, and sat back up.

"No. You are _not_ going to join us for lunch, you are going to leave," she told him, pointing at the door. Robert just chuckled.

"Isn't she cute when she's upset?" he asked Patrick, who was wise enough not to answer. Robin let out a low sound of frustration, sort of a cross between a growl and a moan, and decided that it was time to pull out the big guns, which she normally would have reserved for much later in the game, but she only had forty-five minutes before she had to be at the hospital and she just wanted a quiet lunch with her boyfriend, damn it! Without another thought, and with no qualms, she threw her mother to the dogs.

"Mom's coming back to Port Charles. For good, this time, too," Robin informed her father. She smirked, satisfied, as his jaw fell open and then narrowed into a set frown. He stood, muttering under his breath something about 'we'll see……don't know who she thinks she is….crazy woman.' Robin watched him walk outside, dialing his cell phone, a smug smile on her face.

"That was mean," Patrick commented, a trace of approval in his tone. Robin shrugged.

"A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do," she returned lightly. "Hey, listen. I've been thinking, and we need to talk."

"About what?" Patrick asked, leaning forward.

Robin bit her lower lip. "It's serious."

There was no meal in the world better than Gloria Cerullo's manicotti, Dillon Quartermaine decided, closing his eyes in delight and chewing slowly, savoring the taste. After he swallowed, he opened his eyes. "Gloria, is there anything that I can say that would convince you to leave Carmine and marry me?"

Lois Cerullo's mother just laughed and patted him on the shoulder. "He's a good boy, Eddie," she told Ned. "I'm glad you and Brookie invited him up here for his Spring Break."

Ned grinned across the table at the besotted expression Dillon was bestowing on the manicotti heaped onto his plate. "So am I, and so, I gather, is he."

"I have never eaten this much, or been so happy about it," Dillon agreed.

"I told you Gran would feed you well," Brook Lynn said, coming over to the table with her own plate and sitting across from Dillon, next to her father. "So what were you going to say about Georgie before you lost all of your brain cells?" she asked, taking a bite of her own food before reaching over and stealing a piece of her dad's.

Dillon looked at her blankly for a moment, then remembered what she was talking about. "Oh. Right. She's not too keen on the idea of 'us' right now, as in her and me, but I fully plan on doing whatever it takes to get her back," he vowed.

"Well, maybe you should just give her some time," Brook suggested. "I mean, look at how well that worked for me and Lucas."

Dillon looked at her, eyebrows drawn together. "You're dating Lucas again?"

Brook rolled her eyes. "Apparently I was right- you _don't _read my emails. Yes, I'm dating Lucas, although not so much with the 'again', because last time we didn't even get to the actual 'date' part. But anyway, here it is, years later, and we're together."

"Well, I'm not waiting years for Georgie to decide that she wants me again," Dillon said, then sighed. "That's a lie. I _would_ wait years if I had to- I just really don't want to have to."

"Well, just take it slow, okay?" Brook said, stealing a piece of his manicotti, even as he slapped her hand away. "Give her time to get used to the idea that you want to be back with her."

But her wisdom was lost on Dillon. He was already off in his own world, planning different ways to win Georgie back.

"Viola, did you have any luck finding a babysitter for Kristina?" Alexis called from inside her closet, where she was currently getting ready for a doctor's appointment. Molly was with her father for a few days, but Alexis still had Kristina, and she couldn't come to the hospital. Viola's mother was sick, so Viola was helping take care of her for a few days, and so Alexis was having to depend on a babysitter to take care of her daughter.

"I called Mr. Morgan, and he said that he would take care of it," Viola said, handing Alexis the exact pair of shoes that she had been searching for. "They were in the front closet." Alexis smiled at her gratefully.

"Why did you call Jason?" she asked, remembering what Viola had just told her.

"Well, since I usually call Sam about things like this…." Viola let her sentence trail off, seeing the look of pain that crossed Alexis's face at the thought of her missing daughter. "Anyway, he said that he would find someone."

"Thank you. You can go ahead and leave if you need to," Alexis offered, fastening her earrings.

"Thanks. See you in the morning, Alexis," Viola said. She left the room, and, calling a goodbye to Kristina, hurried off to her mother's.

Alexis grabbed her purse and headed out into the living room where her little girl was playing with her Ariel doll. She smiled, watching Kristina for a moment before moving to join her.

About five minutes later, there was a knock on the door. Alexis stood, brushing off her skirt, and headed for the door. When she opened it, she got the shock of her life.

"Hello, Goddess Mother," Damien Spinelli said, walking into the house, his bag slung over his shoulder as always.

"What are you doing here?"

"Well, Stone Cold said you needed someone to watch Krissy, so I volunteered," Spinelli told her. "But don't worry- I have nothing of 'herbal origin' on me," he said, using air-quotes, "and I brought some educational computer games for my little genius friend here to play with on the Jackal's handy computer."

Alexis looked at him searchingly for a moment, but was brought out of her thoughts by a joyful cry.

"Spinelli!" Kristina exclaimed, getting up from the couch and running to hug his legs. He grinned down at her.

"Hey, Krissy. How's the Jackal's favorite girl doing this fine afternoon?" he asked.

"Good. Are you babysitting me?" she asked, and her little voice was so full of hope that Alexis couldn't deny her anything. She sighed.

"Yes, he's babysitting you, sweetheart. I'm leaving," she told Spinelli. "But if _anything_ happens to my child, you will wish that Sonny had let Alcazar's goons get you."

And with that, she was gone.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

"You can_not_ keep leaving your towels on the floor if you want us to keep living together."

Patrick Drake glared at his girlfriend from across their table. She was biting her lip in an apparent attempt to keep from giggling. "That's not funny," he told her. "I think you just made me have a small heart attack."

"Yeah, right. You know as well as I do that that's not possible," Robin retorted, still chuckling. "The look on your face was great, though. But seriously, that's actually not what I wanted to talk to you about."

Patrick raised his left eyebrow. "Well then, what _did_ you want to talk to me about?" he asked, more curious about her answer this time, instead of dreading it.

"What do you think about dogs?"

"Thanks for bringing me back here," Lucky said as he, Liz, and Lulu walked into the PCPD. Elizabeth and Lulu were dropping Lucky off at the station before going shopping for baby stuff, something that Lulu was rather excited about. She loved shopping for Spencer and even though it was a little hard sometimes because of what had happened between her and Dillon, it was getting easier with time to be around babies and baby stuff. There was also the fact that she couldn't help being excited about being an aunt again, she thought to herself, smiling as Liz answered Lucky.

"It's no problem, sweetie," she said. "It's on the way, and besides, I kind of wanted to talk to you about some things." Lulu took this as her cue to wander away, ending up at Cruz's desk. The chair was empty, she noted, and sat on top of the desk, picking up a picture frame that had been sitting on the corner of the desk and looking at it. Cruz smiled up at her out of the picture, his arms around a woman she knew to be his twin sister, Maritza, who was holding a little girl that Lulu assumed was his niece Anita. She smiled before setting the picture back down and resting her chin in her hand, her elbow propped on her knee; her feet were in his chair. Sighing, she let herself recede into thought.

Who was the man in that photograph? Sometimes Lulu thought she knew, but other times he seemed like a complete stranger to her. She knew it was because he was afraid of letting her get too close to him- he had this thing about him being too old for her and blah blah. Lulu frowned. She was just going to have to convince him that that wasn't a problem. Lulu always had been rather mature for her age. Well, not mature, she thought, correcting herself. More just older than her age, probably due to the fact that her mother was a prisoner of her own mind and her father was absent, both emotionally and physically. Lulu hadn't seen him since Christmas, when he had given her her mother's ring- for "safekeeping", Luke had said. Lulu reached for it unconsciously- she wore it on a chain around her neck at all times, only taking it off when she slept or got in the shower, although she wore it on her hand on special occasions.

She was snapped out of her reverie by someone tugging on one of her curls. Looking up, she saw one of the objects of her musings and grinned. "Well, hello Detective."

"Hey. What are you doing here- on my desk?" he asked, looking at her pointedly. She shrugged, smiling impishly up at him.

"Liz and I are dropping Lucky off before we go shopping for baby stuff," she confessed. "What was it that Lansing so desperately needed you to do?" Cruz frowned, shaking his head before moving her feet out of his chair and sitting down. The moment he was sitting again, Lulu put her feet back in the chair, in his lap. He gave her a Look, but said nothing about it, thankful that she was sitting on the side of his desk instead of in the middle so that he could at least keep working.

"Nothing that important," Cruz said finally. "Not that warranted me having to leave lunch, anyway." Somehow one of his hands had ended up on her feet and he looked down at the heel of the boot that graced her left foot. "How do you not kill yourself in these things?" he asked, looking back up at her. She rolled her eyes.

"You're a man, you wouldn't understand," she told him. He made a face at her, and she returned it, laughing.

On the other side of the room, oblivious to what was going on between his baby sister and his partner, Lucky was leaning against the wall looking at Elizabeth intently.

"…and I was just thinking that maybe after you guys got back from the movie, you'd like to stay for dinner?" Elizabeth asked, looking up at him hopefully. "I was hoping that you and I could talk about everything that's happened recently."

"Yeah, sure," Lucky said, smiling. "I can't wait to see Cam this afternoon." He grinned at the thought of his little boy- _his_, even though Zander would always be Cameron's biological father. Elizabeth smiled at the happiness in Lucky's voice when he talked about Cam.

"He was so excited when I dropped him off at his daycare this morning," Elizabeth told Lucky. "He couldn't wait to see you. He kept asking me if you guys could just go to the movie now instead of waiting till 'school' was over."

"Well, I guess I'll see you tonight, then," Lucky said, unable to keep the smile from crossing his face yet again. He leaned down, intending to kiss her on the cheek, but Elizabeth, sensing what he was about to do, turned her head at the last minute so that his lips met hers. Lucky was a little surprised, but he certainly wasn't going to argue and began kissing her back fervently.

The two parted a moment later, Elizabeth's eyes still closed and a serene half-smile gracing her features. She opened her eyes, leaning up to kiss Lucky on the cheek. "See you tonight." She turned away from him. "Lulu, are you ready to go?"

Lucky looked in the direction that Elizabeth was speaking and was surprised (and slightly confused) to see Lulu sitting on Cruz Rodriguez's desk, the two arguing about something, though he couldn't hear what. At Elizabeth's call, Lulu looked up.

"Yeah, sure," she said. She turned back to Cruz, saying something that Lucky couldn't hear, then hopped down off the desk, walking over to where Lucky and Liz were standing. "Bye, Lucky."

"See ya, Lu," Lucky said, still a little confused over what he had just seen. He stood there, watching Lulu and Liz leave, making sure that they got to the car okay, then went back over to his desk, which was in front of Cruz's. "So, when did you and my sister become such good friends?" he asked, moving some files out of his chair and sitting down. Cruz looked up from the manila folder he had been thumbing through and shrugged nonchalantly.

"We've just run into each other a lot," he told Lucky. He went back to his file, and Lucky knew that that was all he would get out of Cruz on the subject today. Giving him one last look, Lucky shook his head and turned to his own work.

"Okay, so now that we're finished with that, all that's left to do is put it into action!"

Alexis watched as Spinelli high-fived Kristina, who was grinning. The two were sitting on the living room couch and Spinelli's laptop, which was sitting on the coffee table, was the center of both their attentions. She had just walked in the door from her doctor's appointment and neither Spinelli nor her daughter had even looked up. Alexis cleared her throat.

"Oh, hello, Goddess Mother!" Spinelli said, waving at her. "Krissy and I were just working on a computer program."

"He was teaching me how to make my own game, Mommy," Kristina said, coming over to where Alexis was still standing and hugging her mother. She looked up at her with big eyes. "What did the doctor say?"

Spinelli stood, following Kristina. "Yeah, how're you doing, your wonderfulness?" he asked, and if Alexis didn't know better she could've sworn he sounded the slightest bit worried. She smiled reassuringly at Kristina, and then at Spinelli as well.

"The doctor said that I am still in remission. That's means Mommy's still all better," she told Kristina, happy to be able to give her daughter good news. "So what kind of game have the two of you been working on?"

"Oh! Dude, you are going to _love_ this," Spinelli said, heading back to the couch. Kristina followed him, leaning over and half-sitting in his lap.

"It's so cool, Mommy," Kristina said, looking back at her mother. Alexis walked over and sat in the chair. "It's kinda like playing hangman, but instead of stuff happening when you get stuff wrong, it builds a picture. Like, you spell a word, and if you spell it right part of a picture shows up, and you have to spell a bunch of words right to see the whole picture."

Alexis looked at Spinelli, giving him an approving nod. "That sounds really neat, sweetheart. Listen, why don't you tell Spinelli bye, and then go get your Little Mermaid tape and you and I will watch it, okay?" Kristina nodded.

"Bye, Spinelli," she said, hugging his neck before running off into her room. Alexis smiled before turning back to "the Jackal".

"Thank you," she said sincerely. "She seems to really adore you." She reached into her purse and pulled out her checkbook, writing him a check and handing it to him. He put it in his pocket, nodding at her.

"Well, the feeling's totally mutual," Spinelli said, packing up his computer and putting it into his canvas messenger bag. "She's a great kid, and really smart, too," he commented. "Any time you need a babysitter for her, and the Little One too, just let me know, okay?" he asked, putting his coat on.

"I certainly will," Alexis told him, surprising herself by meaning it.

"Alright, well, Jackal out," he said, saluting her with two fingers and heading to the door, letting himself out. Alexis leaned back in her chair, chuckling slightly. Who would have thought that Damian Spinelli would be the perfect babysitter for her little girl?

"So when do you start work again?" Georgie asked, leaning over the counter and propping her chin on her hand. Maxie took a sip of her coffee before answering.

"Carly said that they should be able to reopen in two weeks," she told her sister. "I'm glad, too. I'm getting itchy with nothing to do but go to class." She sighed, looking at her watch. "Speaking of which, I have to be at my history lecture in an hour." She shook her head. "I can't wait to be finished with this semester."

"I don't get why you don't like history," Georgie commented. Maxie shrugged.

A voice coming from behind her caused both girls to look in the direction of the door.

"What does a woman have to do to get a cup of coffee around here?"

Felicia Jones smiled at her daughters, who could do nothing except stare at her in shock.

Samantha McCall prowled the entire space of the small room that she was being kept in. It had been an entire month since she had seen her family and friends, ever since the aftermath of the explosion at the Metro Court hotel. She had been on her way to the triage area that had been set up when she had been grabbed.

She shook her head. This was ridiculous. She had to find a way out of here, and she needed to do it soon.

She missed Jason. God, how she missed him. Briefly, she wondered if he had killed Spinelli yet, or if Lulu had managed to keep that from happening. She certainly hoped so. Sure, the computer hacker was annoying at times, but deep down he was a sweetheart, and useful to have around. If he hadn't gotten the vault open early, she didn't think that any of them would have made it out of that lobby alive.

Including Jason. That was why she had been on her way to the triage area- she was looking for him. She hadn't seen him in the aftermath of the explosion and she was trying to find him, to see if he was okay. But she had been grabbed before she could.

Deep down she knew that he was alive- she would have felt it if he wasn't. But she was getting antsy.

Just then, Sam heard footsteps, and the door to the room opened. She faced her kidnapper, glaring- a look that would have typically had any man reeling, but this person was apparently immune. Appropriately so, Sam thought. It made sense, after all.

She tensed her muscles, then let go, in an attempt to relax herself, before her kidnapper spoke.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Two weeks later, Robin Scorpio unlocked the door to the apartment that she and Patrick shared, glad to finally be home after a very, _very_ long day at the hospital. As she entered, she smiled at the sight that greeted her eyes. Walking over to the couch, she grinned down at her one true love, looked down into his big brown eyes- and laughed out loud as he licked her face. Pushing him away from her, Robin scratched the golden retriever puppy behind his ears, chuckling when he rolled over on his back, tail wagging as he shamelessly begged for more attention.

Remy, as he was known, was the offspring of Courtney Matthews' dog Rosie, who now lived with Mike Corbin. He was nine weeks old and had been living at the Scorpio-Drake residence for a little over a week now; in that amount of time he had managed to not only chew up not one, but two (both lefts) of Patrick's favorite shoes, but also to stake his claim in Patrick's favorite chair- the one with that God-awful pillow. Not that Robin minded that much, since she hated the pillow with a passion. Patrick, however, was a different story.

"_Why_ must that dog invade so much of my personal space?" he demanded, exiting the kitchen. Robin arched her eyebrow at him.

"Well, hello to you too," she said wryly, rolling her eyes and scratching Remy's belly, making the ball of golden fluff writhe in delight. Patrick shook his head in disgust before leaning down and kissing her hello.

"Sorry. It's just that that stupid dog has eaten my shoes, taken over my chair, and now he's decided that it's okay for him to nap in our bed." Patrick folded his arms, looking more than slightly sulky. Robin had to stifle the urge to laugh at him, knowing that that would only make him tetchier, and tried her best to look sympathetic.

"I'm sorry, sweetie," she said, pressing her lips together to keep from letting her giggles out. "But, really, what's the matter with Remy sleeping on our bed? He's just a puppy."

Patrick gave her a Look. "You were one of those kids that slept with sixty million stuffed animals every night, weren't you?"

"I am not going to dignify that with a response."

"Well, I never used to sleep with anything in my bed except me," Patrick informed her. "It was hard enough getting used to you being there, which although it was a pleasant adjustment was still an adjustment, but there is no way that I am going to be able to get used to having that worthless ball of fur there too."

Robin mock-gasped, her hand over her mouth. " 'Worthless ball of fur'?" she asked, not having to try very hard to sound offended. That was _her_ dog that he was talking about! But before she could continue, Patrick held up a hand.

"I am not going to fight with you over a dog." He turned and headed back over to the kitchen area. "What do you want for dinner?" he asked, causing Robin to grin, her hand over her mouth. Mr. Commitment-Phobe was becoming Mr. Domestic!

"How about that steak that you started marinating yesterday?" Robin suggested, picking up a magazine from the coffee table and flipping through it idly as Remy crawled into her lap. She scratched his ears, making his back leg twitch a little, and she laughed.

"Robin! We are _getting rid of that DOG!_"

Robin's eyes widened at Patrick's yell. "Why?" she called back. She looked down at the puppy in her lap, who was snoozing peacefully, unaware that Patrick was likely planning his demise. "What did he do?"

Patrick stalked out of the kitchen holding up a plastic container that Robin assumed had held said steaks. However, right now, it was holding a mangled bit of what _may_ have been a steak at one point. Robin burst out laughing before she could stop herself.

"Oh, you think that this is funny, do you?" Patrick asked, setting the container down on the counter. Robin moved the puppy out of her lap, wondering what her boyfriend was about to do.

"Yeah. You have a problem with that?" she asked, standing and moving behind the couch so that there was a barrier between them. She didn't particularly care for the gleam in his eyes.

Suddenly he launched himself at her, and she squealed loudly, taking off as he proceeded to chase her around the apartment.

"His name is what?"

Emily looked at her best friend as though she feared that he had lost his mind. Lucky rolled his eyes, sitting back in his chair.

"His name is Bob," he said, gesturing to said Bob, who was lying in his lap. Bob was Remy's brother and had been adopted by Elizabeth in order to placate Cameron, who most certainly did not want a little brother or sister and had been rather vocal about that fact. "Cam named him," Lucky informed Emily, who was still looking at him as though she was afraid that he had gone off his meds. "After Bob the Builder, who is apparently his idol these days."

"Besides you, honey," Elizabeth called from the kitchen, where she was cleaning up a little before the takeout from Eli's arrived. Lucky grinned.

"Yeah, you're right." As if on cue, Cameron ran out from where he had been playing in the kitchen (all up under his mommy's feet) and jumped into Lucky's lap, still wearing his Bob the Builder tool belt. "Hey, buddy. What have you been fixing in the kitchen?"

"Mommy," Cameron answered. "Is Cruz going to come over for dinner?" he asked, playing with the zipper on Lucky's jacket, then looking down at his tool belt as though searching for an appropriate tool.

"Yes, he is," Lucky informed his son. He turned back to Emily and Nikolas. "He called and said that he was bringing some files over and Liz invited him to just go ahead and stay for dinner."

"I like Cruz," Cameron announced. He now had his plastic screwdriver out and was tapping it on Lucky's zipper. "He's teaching me to speak Spanish."

"Really?" Nikolas asked, smiling at his adopted nephew. "What kind of stuff do you know?"

"_Rojo_ means red," Cameron told Nikolas solemnly. "Red is my favorite color."

"Mine, too," Emily told him, smiling. She stood as a whimper rang out from the bedroom. "I'll go check on him," she told Nikolas as he prepared to get up.

Nikolas watched her as she headed into the bedroom to check on Spencer. Catching sight of the look that Lucky was giving him, he returned it with one of his own. "What?" he asked.

"Nothing," Lucky said, grinning. There was a knock on the door, then Lulu let herself in.

"Hey guys," she said, pulling her ponytail down and shaking her hair out. "I'm staying for dinner." She sat on the couch next to Nikolas, putting her purse in the floor next to her feet.

"Auntie Lu!" Cameron exclaimed, scrambling down from his father's lap and running over to his aunt, who gladly obliged him, picking him up and hugging him tightly before sitting him in her own lap. "What are _you_ doing here?"

"Well, I was missing my two favorite nephews, and I heard that both of them were here, so I thought that I would come and see them," Lulu told him, kissing the top of his head.

"And you thought that you would mooch dinner off of your big brother," Lucky added, earning him a glare from Lulu. She kissed the top of Cam's head again and sat him on Nikolas's lap, standing.

"I'm going to see if Liz needs any help in the kitchen," Lulu said, frowning at her brother. He just chuckled as she stalked off through the swinging half-doors into the kitchen.

Not a moment later, there was another knock on the door, just as Emily exited the bedroom with a fussing Spencer. She opened the door with one hand, rubbing his back soothingly with the other.

The first person- so to speak, anyway- in the door was a small, barking ball of golden fur, followed closely by Cruz Rodriguez. "Sorry about Killer here," he said, gesturing to the puppy, who had decided that it didn't like Lucky and was therefore going to chew on the leg of his jeans. Cruz set some files on the table near the door before sitting on the edge of the other chair. Emily sat next to Nikolas and handed him Spencer, since his lap was now unoccupied- Cam had gone to investigate "Killer". The small puppy growled menacingly (or what passed for menacingly from something that harmless, anyway) at him and Cameron clambered quickly up into his father's lap, looking a little scared, as the puppy went back to chewing on Lucky's pant's leg.

"Maggie!"

Everyone turned to look at Lulu, who had just exited the kitchen. The puppy dropped Lucky's jeans and ran for her, her feet sliding a little on the hardwood floor of the apartment. When "Killer"-slash- Maggie reached Lulu she dropped onto the floor and rolled onto her back, begging shamelessly for attention and writhing in ecstasy when Lulu stooped down to her knees and scratched Maggie's belly.

"I thought you said its name was Killer," Lucky said, turning back to Cruz. Cruz shrugged, shooting Lulu a Look.

"Thanks a lot," he said, mock-glaring at her. "I had them thinking that she was an attack dog."

Lulu snorted. "Maggie, an attack dog? Yeah, right. The only thing that she's attacked- apart from Lucky's pants, anyway- is that awful deck chair that you have on your back porch." She scratched Maggie behind her ears, laughing out loud when the puppy started wriggling uncontrollably. Picking her up, Lulu made her way over to the chair that Cruz was sitting on the arm of and sat down, Maggie curling up in Lulu's lap as if she were planning on going to sleep. "And I have asked you repeatedly _not_ to call her Killer."

Cruz frowned. "Why don't you just take her home with you, then?" he asked, reaching down to scratch the dog affectionately behind the ears. Lulu slapped his hand away, rolling her eyes.

"I told you already, the Quartermaines don't want a dog in the house," she reminded him. "That's why I gave her to you in the first place, remember?"

"I thought you gave her to me so that, and I believe that this is a direct quote, I 'wouldn't be all alone in my scary house in the middle of freaking nowhere'," Cruz said, causing Lulu to shrug as though conceding his point.

"That too."

Up until this point, Lucky, Nikolas and Emily had been watching the two carefully (Cameron had gone back to attempting to "fix" Lucky's zipper and Spencer was happily sucking on his fingers and playing with a strand of Emily's hair), but now Lucky decided to speak up.

"So when did the two of you become such good friends?" he asked pointedly, leaning forward and raising his eyebrows. Lulu and Cruz looked at each other, unable to keep the guilty expressions from their faces. "I'm waiting," Lucky said impatiently, unconsciously drumming his fingers on his leg.

"Well, um, you see, Lucky," Lulu stammered, making a face and biting her lower lip, "um…." She looked helplessly up at Cruz. "A little assistance would be appreciated," she hissed. Cruz gulped, looking up at Lucky sheepishly.

Thankfully, the two were saved when Elizabeth called from the kitchen, "Lucky, can you get in here? I _really_ need your help." Lucky looked toward the kitchen, then back at Lulu and Cruz, then back towards the kitchen. Sighing, he stood.

"This isn't over," he promised, before heading into the kitchen. As soon as he disappeared through the door, Cruz let out a breath that he didn't realize he had been holding.

"That was close."

"Too close," Lulu agreed. "What are we going to say?" She looked over at Nikolas and Emily, who were watching them expectantly and not even trying to hide the fact that they were listening. Cruz stood and walked over to the far corner of the room, and Lulu followed, sitting Maggie in the chair after she stood.

"What are we going to make?"

Georgie Jones stared helplessly at her older sister, shrugging as she once again surveyed the contents of their refrigerator. "You're the one that knows how to cook, Maxie. I'm challenged in the area of the culinary arts, remember?"

Maxie rolled her eyes at Georgie before moving her out of the way and bending down, searching through the fridge herself. As she did, the sounds of Mac and Felicia yelling at each other at the tops of their lungs (over something that was probably _not_ that important) filtered into the kitchen. Georgie shook her head, going over to close the door, but Maxie stopped her.

"Don't. It makes it sound like things are back to normal around here," she said, smiling. Pulling out what looked to Georgie a random assortment of ingredients, Maxie set everything on the counter. As she rolled her sleeves up to wash her hands, the back door swung open.

"Hello, all," Dillon said, shrugging off his jacket and plopping himself into a chair at the kitchen table. Georgie gave him an odd look.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, sitting down across from him. Maxie shot her a glare, but Georgie didn't see it. Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, she continued. "Shouldn't you be having dinner with the Quartermaines?"

"Yes, well, about that," Dillon said, making a face. "There were several spats at the Qurtermaine household this afternoon and those of us intelligent enough- namely myself and Lulu- fled to safe places such as other family or friends' residences." He paused. "Is there any way I could maybe invite myself to stay for dinner?"

Before Georgie could respond, Maxie butted into the conversation. "Yes, of course. But there's a catch," she told him.

"Anything," Dillon said feelingly, his expression so relieved that Maxie had to stifle a giggle.

"Come wash these vegetables for the salad," she instructed, gesturing to said vegetables. Dillon stood, immediately heading for the counter. Georgie shot her older sister a look that could have stopped an elephant in its tracks, but Maxie, having lived with Georgie for the past nineteen years, was immune and completely ignored it. Georgie sighed, rubbing her forehead with her hand. Didn't Maxie understand that she had been trying to _avoid_ Dillon? Some sister.

But Maxie knew _exactly_ what she was doing. She also knew that she had never seen Georgie happier than when she and Dillon were together. She smiled to herself and gave herself a mental pat on the back. This was going to be one interesting evening.

Where was that bloody woman?

Robert Scorpio paced back and forth in the waiting area of the airport, pausing occasionally to look at the board to see if the flight that he was waiting on was in yet. He shook his head. Why on _Earth_ he had agreed to do this was beyond him. He could think of a hundred better things that he could be doing right now, including his job- a.k.a. running his best friend's casino, which was what he was being paid to do while Luke was out of town (yet again).

"Robert? What are you doing here?"

He turned around to see his ex-wife staring at him, partially shocked and partially something else that he couldn't read, which was strange- he could usually read Anna like a book. Granted, a confusing mystery novel in a different language, but a book nonetheless. Cocking an eyebrow, he folded his arms across his chest.

"Our daughter had to work, or so she said," Robert told her. "So she sent me to come and get you, and take you wherever it is that you're staying." He looked at her again, this time appraisingly. "You look good."

"Thanks," Anna said, albeit grudgingly. "And for the record, I'm staying with Mac. He and Felicia invited me to stay with them until I find my own place."

"Well, then. Let's go find your stuff," he said, setting off at a brisk pace, noting with admiration that she only had to lengthen her stride slightly to keep up with him. "You didn't bring all of Harrods with you, did you?"

There was no response as she began walking ahead of him.

"Anna? Anna!"


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

"What are we going to say?" Lulu demanded in a hushed voice, as she stood in the far corner of the room next to Cruz. Across the room, Nikolas and Emily had seemingly begun a conversation, but from the way that they had been doing nothing to hide the fact that they were eavesdropping earlier, Lulu wouldn't have put it past them to be listening in. Especially her brother, who was _way_ too concerned about what was going on in her personal life these days.

"I have no idea," Cruz admitted. He pinched the bridge of his nose, something that Lulu had noticed he did when he was stressed or uncomfortable. "It really depends on what he asks us, I guess."

"Well, we can honestly tell him that we're friends if that's what he asks," Lulu said thoughtfully. "I don't know. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to have Lucky know. It would certainly feel good to get it out of the way." She stopped, and shook her head. "What am I saying? Lucky would kill you, and then lock me up in a tower at Wyndemere if he found out about us." She sighed, leaning her left shoulder against the wall and looking up at him. "This is ridiculous."

Cruz nodded in agreement. "Maybe he's just being overprotective, though. He probably hasn't even considered the fact that we might be dating; that's not how Lucky's mind works."

Lulu shrugged as if conceding his point. Then she grinned. "So you're admitting that we're dating, Detective?"

Cruz frowned at her, but it wasn't as fierce as it might have been since a smile was threatening to creep across his face.

Across the room, Nikolas turned back to Emily after looking over at the two in the corner surreptitiously. "So, what do you think that's all about?"

Emily adjusted Spencer in her arms (he was still playing with the ends of her hair happily) and sighed. "Honestly?" When Nikolas nodded, she continued. "I have no idea," she admitted. "I have noticed the two of them spending more time together than usual lately, but Lulu's investigating _something_ that she won't tell me about, so she's probably asking Cruz to help her with it."

Nikolas looked back across the room at the pair, unsure of whether he was satisfied with this explanation. Cruz's phone chose that moment to ring, and Lulu collapsed against the wall with an exasperated sigh. Nikolas gave Emily a meaningful look, but she just shook her head at him, rolling her eyes.

Back across the room, Lulu watched as Cruz hung up the phone, her arms folded across her chest. "Well?" she demanded, sounding as though this happened far too often- which, in her opinion, it did, though she knew it came with the territory of dating a cop.

"That was Lansing. He has something important that he _desperately _needs me to do." Cruz shook his head. "I gotta go."

"What does he have against you, anyway?" Lulu asked, narrowing her eyes. Cruz just shrugged.

"Nothing that I know of," he said, putting his sport coat back on. "Listen, if you want, I can call you when I get finished with whatever I'm supposed to be doing," he offered. Lulu grinned.

"Sounds great." She paused, smirking. "Wait- like a _date_?" she asked, stressing the word. He exhaled in a huff, sounding a little exasperated, but nodded briefly. He turned to head out the door, then stopped.

"Hey, you think you can bring Maggie over to the house when you come?" he asked, as though it were guaranteed that they would be spending time together later that night. "I can't take her to work with me, so…" He let his sentence trail, looking at her hopefully. When Lulu nodded, he grinned. "Thanks. I'll call you when I'm done."

Lulu watched him leave, smiling to herself. Reaching in her pocket, she made sure that her phone was on. This was one phone call she was _not_ going to miss.

"You need to let her live her own life."

Elizabeth glared at her husband- well, temporarily _ex_-husband- hands on her hips. Lucky at least had the decency to look slightly sheepish as she scolded him, ducking his head a little. She rolled her eyes. "I'm just saying, Lucky, she's a big girl. I know you feel like you have to protect her from the big bad world, but she's not going to do whatever you and Nik want her to."

Lucky sighed. "I know. I was just curious…I didn't know that she and Cruz were even friends," he said, partially to himself. He took the stack of plates that Elizabeth handed him and took them out into the living room, stopping when he saw that someone was missing. "Where's Cruz?"

"He got a call and had to leave," Lulu informed him, now sitting on the couch again, the dog in her lap.

"What about the puppy?" Elizabeth asked, sticking her head out of the kitchen. "I hope he doesn't think that he's leaving that thing here."

"No, I'm dropping her off when he gets done with whatever it is that Lansing needs him to do tonight," Lulu said. She stood, picking up the dog. "I should actually go, too. I forgot that Maxie invited me over tonight to work on our history project. I think we might _actually_ get finished before it's due, which is amazing." She picked up her purse and headed for the door. "See you guys later," she called over her shoulder as she left.

Lucky just stared after her, a bemused expression on his face. He exchanged a look with Nikolas, then shook his head. "I give up. I don't want to know."

Liz gave him a satisfied smile. "That's probably a good idea, honey."

"So there are going to be lots of people in our house for dinner tonight," Georgie announced, walking into the living room. Felicia looked up from the magazine that she had been flipping through idly, her fight with Mac long over.

"Such as?" she prompted, raising her eyebrow at her youngest daughter.

"Well, Dillon has invited himself over- actually, he just came over and Maxie invited him to stay- and then Maxie called Lulu, because they have some sort of project that they have to work on." Georgie sighed, sitting down on the couch next to her mother. "I really wish she hadn't told Dillon he could stay. I mean, I've been doing _so_ good with this giving up on us thing, but…." She let her sentence trail off, leaning her head on Felicia's shoulder.

Felicia looked down at Georgie, running a hand over her hair soothingly. "I know, sweetheart. You don't think it's hard, being around Mac all the time when I have no idea how I feel about him?" She shook her head. "I really need to find my own place."

"No, don't!" Georgie sat up, looking at her imploringly. "Maxie and I love having you here. Please don't move out!"

"Who's moving out?" Mac asked, coming into the room from his office. He gave Felicia a concerned look. "You're not moving out, are you? I thought you were just going to stay here." Felicia couldn't help herself- she had to smile a little at the hurt expression on Mac's face, and hastened to reassure him.

"No, no one's moving out," she said, standing. "I was just thinking out loud, that's all. Who was on the phone?" she asked, changing the subject smoothly (she hoped). It worked- Mac's face lit up.

"Robin," he informed them. "She and Patrick are going to come over for dinner- their puppy apparently felt the need to eat the steaks they had marinating, so instead of going out and getting something else, Robin just called and asked if they could come over here." Mac scrubbed his hand across his face, but he was smiling.

"Well, they aren't the only ones," Georgie said, sighing and looking in the direction of the kitchen door. "Dillon's in the kitchen with Maxie, and Lulu's on her way over. Plus, didn't you say something about Anna getting in tonight?" she asked, remembering an earlier conversation with her dad.

As if on cue, there was a loud knock on the front door. Before Mac could get to the door to open it, however, it opened on its own and Anna Devane entered. Felicia let out a squeal and launched herself at her old friend, the two women embracing as though they hadn't seen each other in years- which they hadn't. A moment later, Robert entered laden with bags and grumbling to himself about women who packed far more than they could possibly need. He made a dramatic showing of dropping them all at the foot of the stairs, exhaling loudly. Anna merely rolled her eyes, not even looking over at him.

"Thanks so much for letting me stay here," she told Felicia, hugging her again, then turning to Mac. She hugged him as well, smiling warmly. "Hello, Georgie."

"Hey, Anna." Georgie rolled her eyes at the loud crashing noise that emanated from the kitchen. "I'm going to go see what that was- make sure that no one's been killed or anything." She turned and headed back into the kitchen, leaving the adults alone.

"No problem," Mac said to Anna, responding to her former comment. "It looks like there's going to be a party for dinner tonight- Robin and Patrick are coming over, and so is Lulu. And Dillon is apparently already here, and probably the cause of that crash in the kitchen," he added as an afterthought.

"I thought you said Robin had to work tonight," Anna said, turning to look at Robert accusingly. He gave her an affronted look, as though he was offended by the very implication that he would deceive her.

"That was what she told me," he said, rubbing his arms exaggeratedly. "Did you really have to pack so bloody much, woman? It feels like my arms are going to fall off."

"Robert, she's moving back here; of course she had to pack that much," Felicia scolded him, leading Anna over to the couch. "Now, sit. Tell me everything that's happened since the last time I saw you."

"That might take a while."

The view of the countryside was breathtaking, but Sam could not focus on it, or anything for that matter. She was standing on the balcony of a villa that could almost have passed for a palace, but she had no clue where said palace was located. Just then, a maid came out onto the terrace.

"Can I get you anything, Miss Samantha?' she asked politely. Sam started to shake her head no, but then reconsidered.

"Actually, yes. Is there any way you could get me a phone so that I can make an international phone call?" Sam asked, knowing that the chances of the maid saying yes were very slim but needing to try anyway.

"I'm sorry, Miss Samantha, but I have instructions to not allow you any access to phones or other devices of communication," the maid said sincerely, looking apologetic.

"Well, can you at least tell me where I am?" Sam asked. "You don't even have to be specific, just give me a general idea." She looked pleadingly at the maid, whose name she _still_ couldn't remember. The maid sighed, giving in.

"We're in the Crimea, near Livadia," she told Sam. From her conning days, Sam remembered that the Crimea was a region in the south of the Ukraine, on the Mediterranean Sea. She nodded, smiling gratefully at the older woman.

"Thank you." The maid nodded, turning to leave the balcony, but Sam stopped her. "Do you know when your boss will be returning?"

"No, miss, not exactly, but I believe it will be sometime soon," she said. Sam nodded.

"Thanks. That's all."

The maid left the terrace quickly, leaving Sam alone with her thoughts.


	6. Chapter 6

I've taken some liberties with Georige/Maxie's ages and that timeline, but not too much. So here we go!

**Chapter Six**

It was already the end of April. Lulu couldn't believe how fast the past month had flown by. Easter had come and gone- rather eventfully, actually. Cameron had decided that he wanted his Easter eggs to be tie-dyed, so Lucky had to hunt all over town to find this special dye kit that Cameron had seen on a commercial on TV. He had finally found it the night before Easter, but had ended up dying all the eggs himself when Cam had fallen asleep on the couch and Liz had gotten nauseous, refusing to be anywhere near the kitchen. This was after the three of them had moved into the old house, so Lucky had been discovered by his grandmother the next morning, slumped over the egg dye on the table; and to Lulu's delight, her big brother had had to go to church that morning with a large blue stripe on his forehead, due to his falling asleep in the dye concentrate.

Living at the old house with Lesley had been Liz's idea. She thought that with having Cameron and Bob the dog, along with the baby on the way, it just made more sense to live in a real house, with a yard for Cam and Bob to play in. Lesley had been thrilled, and now spent every spare moment that she could spoiling Cameron. Lulu shook her head. That little boy had relatives fawning over him left and right, and Spencer was the same way. And the new baby would be too, Lulu thought to herself, smiling. She couldn't wait to meet her new niece or nephew, though she wasn't sure which it was yet since the baby wasn't cooperating whenever Lucky and Elizabeth went for their appointments. That kid was a Spencer through and through, she thought, grinning.

Looking down at the contents of her skillet to make sure that nothing was burning, Lulu caught sight of her notebook sitting on the counter and again felt a wave of relief wash over her. She and Maxie had finished her project that night at the Scorpios' and had managed to scrape an A-minus, bringing both of their grades up- which they had both been in dire need of. Their report on the Byzantine Empire under Justinian, along with their fantastic (if Lulu did say so herself) model of a Byzantine-era palace had certainly gotten their professor's attention. Working with Maxie had actually turned out to be worth it, Lulu conceded.

Then she grinned to herself again, her face becoming slightly pink as she remembered what_else_ had happened that night. She had brought Maggie back over to Cruz's, letting herself in since she knew where he kept his hide-a-key (and seriously, shouldn't a cop know to keep it somewhere _other_ than under the mat?) and had been lounging on his couch watching _Friends_ when he had arrived home.

Completely unplanned and unexpected sex had ensued.

Thinking back on it, she realized that neither of them had planned for it to happen then, but it had felt _right_…just like she always felt when she was around him. She had been staying at his house nearly every night since then, making some excuse or another (this had prompted Dillon to ask suspiciously where she had been, though when Lulu asked how his getting Georgie back was going, he had promptly shut up), which all boiled down to the simple fact that neither of them could really sleep anymore without the other close by.

Maggie started barking loudly, causing Lulu to look in the direction of the door just in time to see the object of her thoughts walk in. She grinned.

"Hey, you. I'm making dinner," she called. She frowned, looking back down at the skillet. "Well, I'm attempting to make dinner, anyway. I've burned a couple of the omelets, though." She wrinkled her nose. "How do you _burn_ eggs? I mean, seriously. This is getting a little ridiculous."

"Maybe _I_ should cook from now on," Cruz suggested, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist. He kissed her temple lightly before resting his forehead against the back of her head.

"Bad day?" Lulu asked instinctively, turning off the eye and setting down her spatula before turning around and wrapping her arms around his neck, kissing him soundly. Cruz pulled back slightly, shaking his head.

"Not too bad. Just frustrating- I had to deal with a rookie all day, which is _always_ fun," he commented dryly. She laughed, turning back to remove the skillet from the eye and transfer the last omelet to the plate sitting beside the stove. Cruz left his arms around her waist, his chin resting on her shoulder, and Lulu smiled to herself at how_normal_ the situation felt. She caught a glimpse of them in the reflection on the kitchen window and nudged Cruz, gesturing for him to look.

"Hmmm….I like the way that looks," he said, nuzzling her neck. She looked back at him over her shoulder in surprise.

"You're being more…okay with this relationship thing than usual," she pointed out, looking at him a little suspiciously. Cruz grinned at her, and Lulu felt her heart skip a little, as it always did.

"I have officially given up."

"On what?"

"Fighting this…whatever this is," he told her. His face grew slightly pensive, then he spoke again. "I'm falling in love with you, Spencer."

Lulu's eyes widened, and she felt her jaw hang open a little. Then she recovered herself and grinned, jumping into his arms and kissing him soundly. She pulled away after just a moment, though, to whisper against his lips, "I'm in love with you too, Rodriguez."

His lips crushed down onto hers again before he said, "Dinner can wait."

The town still looked mostly the same.

Oh, there were differences here and there. It was all more modern-looking, and the Port Charles hotel was gone, a newer-looking building seemingly in its place. But for the most part it still looked like the same town he had left behind- had it been almost twelve years since the last time he had been here? He shook his head at himself. He shouldn't have stayed away for so long.

But he was back now. And he planned on being here for a while- at least until he completed his assignment, anyway. After that, he wasn't quite sure _what_ he was going to be doing.

What he needed to do right now, however, was find somewhere to stay. He supposed that that new hotel- the Metro something or other- was out of the question, as it was kind of out of his budget range. Kelly's it was, he thought wryly. Which was convenient, as he just happened to be standing outside said diner at the moment. Coffee sounded good, too, since he had been up for the past thirty-seven hours.

Pushing the door open, he entered the familiar diner and chose a seat at a table close to the door, pulling his PDA out of his pocket to check for new emails. There was a forwarded joke about an agent, a rabbi, and a diplomat from a former partner, but no updates about his mission.

He heard footsteps coming towards the table and then heard a slightly familiar-sounding voice ask, "What can I get you?" He raised his head and found himself looking into his own eyes, set in a more-than-familiar face.

"Daddy?" she asked, sounding rather disbelieving. He couldn't fault her- the last time he had seen them her sister had been nine and she had been seven. She had no reason to expect her father to be in town.

He sighed and nodded, almost (but not quite) as surprised to see her as she was to see him. "Hello, Georgie."

All Georgie Jones could do was stare at Frisco in shock.

"But why now?" Georgie asked, pouring him a cup of coffee before sitting across from him at the little table, sipping her own tea. Frisco watched as she made a face, looking so much like her mother as she crinkled her nose and reached for the small packets of sugar in the middle of the table. "Wait, let me guess," Georgie continued. "You had some time between assignments- no, you had your _choice_ of assignments and you chose Port Charles because you wanted to reconnect with your family."

Frisco just looked at her.

"That was Uncle Robert's excuse, anyway," Georgie went on. "So?"

"Well, you aren't far off," Frisco admitted, taking a long drink of coffee. "I didn't have a choice- they gave me the assignment here in town. The agent that they had working on it quit the agency."

"Anna," Georgie said, nodding. "She's Chief of Detectives at the PCPD now."

"So she and Robert are both in town?" Frisco asked curiously.

"Mm-hmm. Anna stayed with us for a while, but she and Mom actually have their own place together now," Georgie said, rolling her eyes a little. "They're hilarious- they act like teenagers most days." She shook her head, then looked at him pensively. "This is so surreal."

"What is?"

"Sitting here, talking to you," Georgie said. "I mean, the last time I saw you was for a few days when I was seven. My whole life, practically, Mac has been my father, and you've just been like, this phantom that I vaguely remember coming and going when I was a kid." Georgie's voice had taken on an odd tone. "You know, I used to always imagine that you would show up out of nowhere when things got scary, because that's what you always did when Maxie and I were really little, but then you never did, and I stopped hoping. And here you are, now that Maxie and I are all grown up." She stopped, shaking her head and pressing her fingertips to her temples.

"Georgie…" Frisco began, then stopped, not really knowing what else to say. She shook her head again, holding up a hand to keep him from speaking again. He sighed. He knew a long time ago that he had really screwed this parenting thing up, but this was really something. _Nice job, Frisco,_ he thought to himself. _You've been back in town_maybe_ an hour and you've already managed to make your youngest daughter cry._ "Honey, I can't even begin to tell you how much I regret not being here for you and Maxie when you were growing up." She opened her mouth to speak, but now it was his turn to hold his hand up, stopping her. "I thought for the longest time that working for the WSB was what I wanted, and by the time I realized what I was giving up, it was too late. I was too far into the organization."

"I deserved to know my father!" Georgie said, her voice rising with each word. "Mac was amazing, and in every way that mattered he _was_ my father, but he never took your place. Not with me _or _Maxie." There were tears gathering at the corners of her eyes now. "Don't get me wrong. I couldn't love Mac more if he _had_ been my father, and the fact that he isn't just makes it more special. But I always wondered why you left us."

"Georgie, I can't really answer that even now," he told her honestly, reaching over and taking her hand. She looked down at their joined hands, so similar in shape, then back up at him as he continued. "But what I do know is that I want to use the time that I'm in town to get to know my daughters again."

Georgie smiled for the first time since she had seen him sitting at the table. She sniffed, wiping her eyes. "I should get back to work," she said, standing. "But, maybe…do you want to go out for lunch tomorrow? Just me, you and Maxie?"

"That sounds fantastic, sweetheart," Frisco said. Maybe things wouldn't be as difficult as he had originally thought. This mission would be more than bearable if he could use his free time to get to know his little girls again.

He watched Georgie head back to the counter, a smile crossing his face as he noticed yet again just how much she was like Felicia at that age.

Damn.

Felicia.

Frisco had almost forgotten that Georgie had mentioned that her mother was back in town. Well. _That_ should be a fun meeting.

Shaking his head, Frisco sighed and stood. Might as well get it over with. Taking one last look around, he left Kelly's to meet his doom.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

How on _earth_ did the woman manage to go through so much laundry?

Felicia shook her head and sighed, looking at the large piles of dirty clothes lying on the floor in Anna's bedroom. All Felicia had seen Anna wear in the past month were her black suits that she wore to work at the PCPD- sometimes with skirts, sometimes with pants- and the jewel-toned silk halter tops or camisoles that she wore under them.

She had not, however, seen her roommate wear a black cocktail dress, a dark brown peasant-style skirt, and _especially_ not those obscenely yellow sweatpants. She rolled her eyes and pulled the door to as she exited the room.

The living room was much more organized- Anna hadn't gotten any neater over the years, but she had at least learned to confine her mess to her bedroom. Living with Anna Devane had been an adjustment, to be sure, but a welcome one- Felicia adored getting to know her best friend all over again, and it was nice to be able to sit down in the evenings with a sappy movie and a glass of red wine and not have to listen to Mac complain that the new episode of NCIS was on and that he was missing it.

She set the basket of clean laundry that she had been carrying on the sofa, turning on the stereo before turning back to the basket to begin folding the laundry. As she did, her mind drifted back to the past month.

It was almost May, and Felicia certainly the hoped that the old adage proved true- they had had plenty of April showers, and she was more than ready for them to be over. Some May flowers would be nice, too, she thought, smiling to herself. She would have to go over to Mac's and tend to the garden. That man killed her flowers every time he tried to take care of them.

Mac. She sighed. Things had been going well between them, and she knew that he wanted another chance. They had been close to that the last time she was in town, when Maxie had been in the hospital, but something had caused her to keep him at a distance, eventually leading her to head back out to Texas to visit her grandmother yet again. She knew what that something was, though she didn't particularly care to admit it to herself.

Frisco.

There would always be a part of her that would still be in love with that man. And because of that, because she had never really gotten any closure from their relationship, she had never really been able to give her whole heart to Mac- something that she regretted, because she knew that he loved her with all that he was. She wanted to love him the same way, but there was just part of her that couldn't let herself.

Suddenly, she heard a knock on the door and set down the towel that she had just folded. Moving over to the entryway, she wondered who on earth it could be- Mac was at work, and so was Anna. Perhaps it was Robin coming to see Anna about something, but she had a key and typically just walked right in.

Felicia reached the door and pulled it open. Standing there was the object of her thoughts only moments before- one Andrew Jones.

"Hi, Feli-" was all he managed to get out before she slammed the door in his face.

Felicia looked at the door in front of her, thinking maybe she had imagined him, and opened it again. Frisco was still standing there, leaning against the doorframe. He smiled sheepishly at her.

She slapped him and slammed the door again, this time locking it.

"Felicia, I'm just going to sit out here until you open the door and talk to me!" he yelled through the door, and she heard him sit against the door.

"Then you're going to sit there until hell freezes over!" she returned, and headed back into her living room, searching for the phone.

"Okay, so Jenkins said he'd let us know if he found anything else out about the case," Anna said, entering Mac's office. Mac started; he hadn't noticed her approaching. She laughed.

"Thinking about Felicia?" she asked, coming around and sitting on his desk in front of him. Mac nodded, rubbing his forehead with her right hand while taking the file she held out with his left.

"The woman drives me crazy," he sighed, leaning back in his desk chair.

"You love her," Anna accused, pulling her legs up so that she was sitting cross legged on the desktop. Mac rifled through the file, grinning to himself.

" 'Course I do," he said, pulling out a sheet of paper and perusing the contents. His brother chose that moment to enter the office- without knocking, of course. Knocking simply wasn't Robert Scorpio's style.

"Hello, all," he said, his words accompanied by his trademark smirk. He leaned against the credenza on the wall of the room by the door, sipping coffee from a to-go cup that he had probably gotten from what Maxie and Georgie affectionately referred to these days as "Sonnybucks". "How's life at the PCPD?"

"Quite good, actually," Anna said, rolling her eyes at her ex-husband. "How's the P.I. business going?"

"Well, I've actually abandoned that for the moment, since the Spencer is still out of town and I am currently engaged in running the _Haunted Star_," Robert returned, not giving her any quarter. Mac just leaned back in his chair, planning to be entertained for a few minutes before he stopped them.

"Oh, yes, Luke Spencer. I suppose I should be glad that he isn't in town, since the two of you seem to get into immeasurable amounts of trouble when you're within a fifty mile radius of each other." Anna stood from her position on Mac's desk, moving to lean against the back wall. She surveyed Robert with a withering stare that would have made a lesser man cringe- he merely grinned back. Sighing, Anna closed her eyes, pressing her left hand to her forehead. "To what do we owe the…_pleasure_…of this visit?" she asked, almost sounding as though she didn't want to hear the answer.

Thankfully, she was spared. Lucky stuck his head in the doorway with an apologetic smile, shaking his head. "Felicia just called. She says there's a…_situation_…at her apartment. She also said to tell you that it isn't an emergency, but if you didn't mind she'd like for you to come and handle it, Commissioner."

"Thanks, Lucky. I'll take care of it," Mac assured him. Lucky nodded, heading back down the hallway to his own desk. Anna looked over at Mac, puzzled.

"I wonder what she means, situation?"

"I don't know, but I guess I should go have a look," Mac sighed, standing.

"Well, I'll come with you. It is my apartment, too, after all," Anna reasoned, following him out the door. Robert made as if to follow them, and Anna stopped. "What are you doing?"

"Coming along," he said, as though it made perfect sense. Anna looked at him for a moment, then seemed to decide that it wasn't worth it, turning back to follow Mac.

"Yeah, I just want to go talk to her," Elizabeth said, shifting her purse from one arm to the other as she locked her car, holding her cell phone between her ear and her shoulder. "I mean, it's silly, because I know she can't hear me, but I just have this feeling that I need to go see her, you know?"

"I know what you mean," Lucky assured her from the other end of the line. "I went last back at the beginning of the month when you told me about the baby. She seemed a little less out of it, though- she was still staring off into space, but her eyes seemed more focused, and I swear she squeezed my hand. The nurse said that it was probably one of those involuntary muscle things, but I don't know….I guess it's just wishful thinking."

"It's natural, especially after last fall," Elizabeth said. She smiled and put her keys in her purse, turning to the entrance of Shadybrook. "I'll see you when I get home, okay babe?"

"Okay." Lucky paused. "Sorry, I gotta go, too. I have to go help one of the rookies with something. I love you, Liz," he said in a low voice. She grinned, knowing that there was probably several other officers nearby; if they heard his declaration, they would rib him about being whipped for hours- on top of what they already did anyway, since Lucky had been attending to her every whim during the last month of her pregnancy, even leaving work once to bring something she had been craving to her at the hospital.

"I love you, too, honey," she said before hanging up. Taking a deep breath, she entered the stark building to visit her beloved mother-in-law.

Patrick Drake stared down the small object in his hand. He wasn't going to let a tiny little box intimidate him. He was the greatest neurosurgeon on the eastern seaboard, possibly even in the whole country! He had faced down numerous incredibly dangerous procedures without even flinching.

And he was scared to death of a damn little black box.

Actually, it was more that he was scared of what was in the box, and what it represented. The black box contained his mother's engagement ring, which his father had given him earlier that day.

"_She always told me that she was going to give it to you when you found the woman you wanted to marry," Noah said, leaning back against the edge of the nurses' desk and regarding his son solemnly. "Since she isn't here, I guess that falls to me."_

"_I haven't said anything about wanting to marry Robin," Patrick said, though he really didn't mean it. He only said it because it was in his nature to contradict everything his father said. Knowing this, Noah merely gave him a Look. "Okay, so maybe I do want to marry her. But the mere thought of asking her…"_

"_Makes you feel like you're going to throw up?" Noah queried._

"_Violently." _

"_That's perfectly normal," Noah assured Patrick. "Just take it. I'm not saying you have to use it anytime soon- just consider it."_

He sighed, leaning back against his locker. He had considered it, and he had decided. He was going to ask her tonight.

Robin Scorpio stared down the small object in her hand. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. There was no way that was right-they had been so careful because of her HIV. She sighed, sitting back on the edge of the bathtub and staring at the stick.

Patrick had been so adamant about not wanting kids. How on earth was he going to react when she told him this? She sighed. Maybe she didn't have to tell him yet; she could wait and make an appointment with Kelly, figure out everything that was going on before she confronted Patrick with the news.

But what if Kelly wanted to do a sonogram? If she was going to get to see her- _their_- child on that monitor, she wanted Patrick to be there with her, holding her hand.

She swallowed nervously, thinking that maybe she should just think about this some more, but she knew in her heart that she had already made her decision. She was going to tell him tonight.

Elizabeth stood outside Laura's door, looking at it apprehensively. It had been a long time since she had had a heart-to-heart with Lucky's mother, but she knew that if anyone would understand, it would be Laura- even if she couldn't understand what Elizabeth was saying. Squaring her shoulders, she opened the door- and received the shock of her life.

Standing in front of her, lucid and looking very much like her normal self, was Laura Spencer.

Recovering from her shock first was Laura. Smiling, she shrugged and said, "Hello, Elizabeth."


End file.
